Alteration of serum and tumoral neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM) isoforms in patients with brain tumors.

The neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM) is involved in the intercellular junctions of neurons and glial cells. We investigated its relevance as a biomarker in gliomas which main characteristic is their high invasiveness. We studied by Western blot the pattern of serum NCAM bands in patients with gliomas (n = 34), with brain metastasis of different primary cancers (n = 27) and with benign brain tumors (n = 22)] compared with healthy controls (n = 69).

Muscarinic receptors autoantibodies purified from mammary adenocarcinoma-bearing mice sera stimulate tumor progression.

The ability of tumor cells to stimulate adaptive immunity, particularly by inducing anti-tumor antibodies (Abs), has been extensively reviewed. LM3 is a tumorigenic cell line derived from a murine mammary metastatic adenocarcinoma that spontaneously overexpressed mAchR. Here we investigate the ability of Abs purified from the sera of LM3 tumor-bearing mice, directed against muscarinic acetylcholine receptors (mAchR) to modulate tumor cells' proliferation and angiogenesis.

Muscarinic receptors are involved in LMM3 tumor cells proliferation and angiogenesis.

Angiogenesis is a process of new blood vessel development from pre-existing vasculature and it plays an essential role in tumor growth and metastases. Here, we investigate the expression of muscarinic acetylcholine receptors (mAchR) and their participation in tumor cell proliferation and angiogenesis ability. Saturation binding assays with the tritiated muscarinic antagonist quinuclidinyl benzilate indicate that LMM3 cells derived from a murine mammary adenocarcinoma express a single class of functional mAchR.

Muscarinic receptors participation in angiogenic response induced by macrophages from mammary adenocarcinoma-bearing mice.

Introduction: The role of macrophages in tumor progression has generated contradictory evidence. We had previously demonstrated the ability of peritoneal macrophages from LMM3 murine mammary adenocarcinoma-bearing mice (TMps) to increase the angiogenicity of LMM3 tumor cells, mainly through polyamine synthesis. Here we investigate the ability of the parasympathetic nervous system to modulate angiogenesis induced by TMps through the activation of the muscarinic acetylcholine receptor (mAchR).

Different mechanisms lead to the angiogenic process induced by three adenocarcinoma cell lines.

Neoangiogenesis is essential for tumor and metastasis growth, but this complex process does not follow the same activation pathway, at least in tumor cell lines originated from different murine mammary adenocarcinomas. LMM3 cells were the most potent to stimulate new blood vessel formation. This response was significantly reduced by preincubating cells with indomethacin and NS-398, non-selective cyclooxygenase (COX) and COX-2 selective inhibitors, respectively.

Neural cell adhesion molecule in human serum. Increased levels in dementia of the Alzheimer type.

Memory impairment is a process associated with alterations in neuronal plasticity, synapses formation, and stabilization. As the neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM) plays a key role in synaptic bond stabilization, we analyzed the usefulness of soluble NCAM isoforms in the diagnosis of patients with dementia of the Alzheimer type (DAT). NCAM was measured in the sera of 70 control subjects and 43 DAT patients (with different severity of cognitive impairment, GDS), employing Western blot and densitometric quantification.

Nitric oxide in patients with transitional bladder cancer.

Background And Objectives: One of the current challenges in clinical oncology is the identification of patients with superficial transitional bladder carcinoma (TBC) at high risk of recurrence or myoinvasive disease. Recently, inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) expression was detected in urinary bladder cancers. Because iNOS produces a high concentration of nitric oxide (NO), we thought it possible that urine from TBC patients produces high levels of NO.

Nitric oxide synthase, arginase and cyclooxygenase are involved in muscarinic receptor activation in different murine mammary adenocarcinoma cell lines.

Investigations on the influence of the parasympathetic nervous system via muscarinic signaling in tumor progression have produced contradictory evidence. We investigated the expression of muscarinic acetylcholine receptors (mAchR) and their intracellular transduction pathways, in two murine mammary adenocarcinoma cell lines, LM3 and LM2 in comparison with the normal murine mammary epithelial cell line: NMuMG. Saturation binding assays with the tritiated muscarinic antagonist quinuclidinyl benzilate ([3H]-QNB) indicate that LM3 cells express higher amounts of mAchR than LM2 cells.